Method of assemblying a drawer pull

ABSTRACT

An improved drawer pull and method of assembly, the pull utilizing a support having rearwardly-mounted, axially-extending ears which cam against a cut-away portion of the bail of the pull so as to cause the support to pivot during assembly into coaxial alignment with the bail with the axle of the bail mounted in a bearing slot in the support. The ears and the extremities of the cut-away portion serve to limit the possible rotation of the bail on the support once the support is attached by screws to the drawer. The bail axle and the support bearing slot can be either short so as to require two of each, or the axle and slot can extend across the full length of the support.

United States Patent Van Ryn et al. Dec. 4, 1973 54] METHOD OF ASSEMBLYING A DRAWER 2,701,114 2/1955 Donaldson 16/126 Ux PULL 3,248,750 5/1966 Black 3,559,779 2/1971 Lautin 16/126 X Inventors: Edwin Van Ryn; Edwin J.

Driesenga, both of Holland, Mich.

Assignee: Keeler Brass Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Filed: Nov. 26, 1971 Appl. No.: 202,248

Related US. Application Data Primary Examiner-Charlie T. Moon Attorney-Lloyd A. Heneveld 5 7 ABSTRACT An improved drawer pull and method of assembly, the pull utilizing a support having rearwardly-mounted, axially-extending ears which cam against a cut-away portion of the bail of the pull so as to cause the support to pivot during assembly into coaxial alignment with the bail with the axle of the bail mounted in a bearing slot in the support. The ears and the extremities of the cut-away portion serve to limit the possible rotation of the bail on the support once the support is attached by screws to the drawer. The bail axle and the support bearing slot can be either short so as to require two of each, or the axle and slot can extend across the full length of the support.

3 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEUuEc 4 I913 SHEET 10F 3 T PATENTED DEE. 4 I975 sun-:1 2 OF 3 WENTEDBEB 4197s I 3L775830 SHEET 30? 3 METHOD OF ASSEMBLYING A DRAWER PULL This is a division, of application Ser. No. 882,042 filed Dec. 4, 1969, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,634.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Drawer pulls have been provided heretofore which allow the support and the bail to be manufactured separately, their assembly occurring prior to attachment to the drawer. The attachment is accomplished in such a way as to prevent the bail from becoming removed from the support after the support is secured to the drawer. See, for example, US. Pat. Re. No. 26,019, assigned to the same assignee as the instant application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention concerns a barrel-shaped drawer pull designed to stand away from the drawer. The pull comprises a bail and support which are assembled only immediately prior to the attachment of the pull to the drawer. The bail and the support utilize cooperating parts so that the assembly is accomplished by a ready and quick camming action, this particular method of assembly also being a part of the invention.

With regard to the structure, the invention provides an improved bail and support wherein the bail and the support include cooperating means for camming the support into coaxial alignment with the bail during the assembly of the bail and support. The camming means on the bail includes a stop which also serves as a means for limiting the upward pivoting of the bail on the support when the pull is assembled.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a drawer pull having a bail and a support which are easily and readily assembled together by a mechanical interfit, and to provide a method of so joining the parts of the drawer pull.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a bail and support assembly in which the two parts are assembled through a camming action which then restricts the movement of the bail on the support after the support has been fixed to a drawer.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a drawer pull constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along thelines 11-" of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of the support;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the initial step in assembling the drawer pull;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG. 4 illustrating the position of the bail and the support after the support has been rotated through 90 from the position shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the bail in its stopped upper position;

FIGS. 7 through 9 are partially schematic, fragmentary sectional views similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the assembly of the support and the bail, FIG. 9 representingthe point of assembly also shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a rear elevational view of an alternate embodiment of the support;

FIG. 11 is a front elevational view of the support shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line XII- -XII of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a rear elevational view of the bail utilized in the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 10 through 12; and

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line XIV-XIV of FIG. 13.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention relates to a drawer pull conventionally mounted on the front of a drawer 12, the pull comprising a support 14 mounted by means such as screws (not shown) projecting through the drawer 12, and a bail 30 having a handle grip 31 pivotally mounted upon the support 14. The screws which mount the support 14 are threaded into cylindrical projections 16 at the rear of the support in the case of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 9. As used herein, rear and front refer to the drawer pull as it is commonly viewed when assembled.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, and as disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 9, the support 14 and the bail 30 are provided with the following cooperating structure:

Each end 18 of the support 14 (FIG. 3) is provided .with a bearing slot 22. The slot 22 of the support extends fr om an end 23 at the center axis of the support 14, generally rearwardly to the rear of the support 14, parallel to the projections 16. The slot 22 cooperates with a stub axle 24 projecting from a flat face 25 on each of the opposing ends 26 of the bail (FIG. 2). Thus, the cooperating slots 22 and the stub axles 24 allow the support 14 and the bail 30 to pivot with respect to each other, when assembled together.

Projecting from each of the flat surfaces defining the ends 18 of the support 14 is an ear 32 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The cooperating feature of the bail 30 is a steppeddown cut-away portion 33 on the ends 26 (FIG. 2), comprising a cam surface 34 immediately adjacent each flat face 25, the cam surface facing towards the rear of the baiL'The cam surface 34 is defined by two stops 36 and 38, between which a generally circular shoulder 40 is formed. The car 32 is formed so as to fit within the cut-away 33 and so as to rotate between the two stops 36 and 38 closely adjacent to the shoulder 40, while the support 14 and the bail 30 rotate with respect to each other by means of the ASSEMBLY Referring now to FIGS. 2, and 4 through 9, to assemble the support so as to be coaxially aligned and pivoted upon the bail 30, the support is brought into contact with the bail with the rear of the support defined by the projections 16 facing toward the front of the bail (FIGS. 4 and 7), the ears 32 contacting the stops 36. At this point, each axle 24 just starts to enter its slot 22, as shown in dotted line, FIG. 7. Rotation in the direction of the arrow 50 (FIG. 4) pivots the rear of the support upwardly so as to turn the ear 32 in its abutment against stop 36 (FIG. 7) and so as to cam the stub axles 24 into the slots 22 (FIG. 8). The camming action is completed when the axle seats at the end 23 of the slot, this occurring when the slot 22 is approximately vertical (FIGS. 5 and 9). Thereafter, pivoting is continued as indicated by the arrow 52, FIGS. 5 and 9, until the projections 16 extend to the rear of the bail 30, during which time the stub axles remain coaxially aligned with the ends 23 of the slots 22. This completes the positioning of the bail upon the axis of the support 14. Also, the pivoting in the direction of the arrow 52 is terminated by the ears 32 abutting against the stops 38 (FIG. 2). When so assembled, the support can be mounted upon the drawer. After the mounting upon the drawer, the ears 32 occupy a fixed position with respect to the drawer 12 as shown in FIG. 6. When not mounted to a drawer, the bail would tend to come off the support upon further clockwise rotation as shown in FIG. 6, the drawer surface 12 prevents that from happening when the pull and drawer are finally assembled. Downward pivoting is limited by the stop 38 (FIG. 2). Accordingly, the handle grip 31 of the bail is prevented, by the stops, from banging against the drawer. Upward pivoting of the bail 30 upon the support 14 by means of the stub axles 24 can occur only until the stops 36 abut against the ears 32, thereby limiting the upward pivoting as shown in FIG. 6.

It will be readily appreciated that the manner in which the support end 18 interfits with the end 26 of the bail provides a simple and quick method of assembly, after which no assembly structure is readily apparent to the observer of the drawer (see FIG. 1).

ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS FIGS. through 14 illustrate an alternate embodiment of the invention, wherein the bail is a continuous loop rather than a broken loop, and the support is modified to accommodate an axle extending the full length of the support. Parts similar to those previously described bear the same reference numerals to which the suffix a has been added. Thus, each end of the support 14a is flattened at 18a and is provided with an ear 32a positioned similarly to the ear in the previous embodiment. To accommodate an axle of the bail which extends the full length of the support, a slot 60 is utilized extending from end to end of the support 14a, the slot extending from a bottom surface 23a, which is centered in the support, to the rear (FIG. 12). Instead of utilizing two projections to mount screws, the support 14a is provided with plates 62 and 64 mounted on the rear of the support, the plates having screw holes 66 drilled therein for accommodating the screws which attach the support 14a to the drawer.

Similarly, the bail 30a is provided, as in the previous embodiment, with a cam surface 34a which terminates in two stops 36a and 38a. Unlike the previous embodiment, instead of having a broken loop forming the bail and utilizing two stub axles, the loop of the bail is complete and the support 14a pivots with respect to the bail by means of a straight axle 70 extending from one cam surface a to the other surface 25a (FIGS. 13 and 14).

It will be readily appreciated that the support 14a and the bail a are assembled in the identical fashion as disclosed with the previous embodiment, the axle 70 being cammed into the slot 60 by the interaction of the ears 32a with the stops a. The steps and procedure are exactly the same, the sequence shown in FIGS. 7-9 applying here also. In this case, however, the screws mounting the support 14a to the drawer utilize the holes 66 in the plates rather than screw into two projections.

Although the invention has been described in connection with particular embodiments, it will be apparent that equivalent structures can be devised within the scope of the invention. Thus, the particular artistic shape of the support 14 and of the ends 26 is of no consequence to this invention, other than the mechanical interfit which is provided between the support and the bail. Similarly, the entire bail 30 can have any one of a number of artistic shapes and still utilize the mechanical interfit with the support 14, as disclosed above. The screw holes 66 or projections 16 need not be the number shown, but can be any convenient number.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.

l. A method of assembling a drawer pull including a bail and a support having a bearing slot to receive said bail, said bail having an axle designed to pivot relative to said support within said slot about an axis of said support, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing said bail with a first cam means and said support with a second cam means, said first cam means being located radially outwardly of the axis of said bail and said second cam means being located radially outwardly of the said axis of said support, said first and second cam means being adapted to cooperatively engage each other to force said axle into said slot as relative pivotal movement is provided between said bail and support about the axis of said axle causing the axle to be seated in the slot in a position where the axis of the axle and the axis of the support are coincident;

b. bringing the second and first cam means of said support and bail into contact with each other with the rear of said support facing towards the front of said bail and with the axle located at the entrance to said bearing slot;

c. pivoting said support about its contact with said bail so as to move said axle into said slot;

d. continuing said pivoting until said rear faces toward the rear of said bail with said axle still positioned within said slot whereby the axle is caused to be seated in the slot in a position where the axis of the axle is coincident with the axis of the support; and

e. mounting said support on the drawer.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein second cam means of said support includes an ear at each end and said first cam means of said bail includes a pair of cam cut-away portions on its rear surface, and wherein said steps of bringing into contact and pivoting of said support with respect to said bail include the steps of contacting said ears each with one end of said cut-away portions, pivotingsaid support upwardly so as to cam said axle into said slot, and continuing said pivoting until said ears contact the other ends of said cut-away portions.

3. A method of assembling a drawer pull including a bail and a support having a bearing slot to receive said bail, said bail having an axle designed to pivot relative to said support within said slot, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing said support with an ear at each end and said bail with a pair of cam cut-away portions on its rear surface said cut-away portions having two ends;

b. bringing said support into contact with said bail by contacting said ears each with one end of said cutaway portions; c. pivoting said support about its contact with said bail in an upward direction causing said axle to cam into said slot;

e mounting said support on the drawer.

mg? l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 01- co1uu5c'r10 Petent No. 13, 775,830 Dated December 4 1973 I lnventofls) -Edw1 n Van Ryn and Edwln J Drlesenga It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent .are hereby corrected as shown below:

Y Column 2, line 50;

1 After "the" insert interengaged slots 22 and stub axles 24.

Column 3, line 62;

"'35a" should be 36a 7 Signed and 'sealled this 11th day or June 197g;

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FIETCHER,JR. Attesting Officer c. MARSHALL DANN Commissionerof Patents 

1. A method of assembling a drawer pull including a bail and a support having a bearing slot to receive said bail, said bail having an axle designed to pivot relative to said support within said slot about an axis of said support, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing said bail with a first cam means and said support with a second cam means, said first cam means being located radially outwardly of the axis of said bail and said second cam means being located radially outwardly of the said axis of said support, said first and second cam means being adapted to cooperatively engage each other to force said axle into said slot as relative pivotal movement is provided between said bail and support about the axis of said axle causing the axle to be seated in the slot in a position where the axis of the axle and the axis of the support are coincident; b. bringing the second and first cam means of said support and bail into contact with each other with the rear of said support facing towards the front of said bail and with the axle located at the entrance to said bearing slot; c. pivoting said support about its contact with said bail so as to move said axle into said slot; d. continuing said pivoting until said rear faces toward the rear of said bail with said axle still positioned within said slot whereby the axle is caused to be seated in the slot in a position where the axis of the axle is coincident with the axis of the support; and e. mounting said support on the drawer.
 2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein second cam means of said support includes an ear at each end and said first cam means of said bail includes a pair of cam cut-away portions on its rear surface, and wherein said steps of bringing into contact and pivoting of said support with respect to said bail include the steps of contacting said ears each with one end of said cut-away portions, pivoting said support upwardly so as to cam said axle into said slot, and continuing said pivoting until said ears contact the other ends of said cut-away portions.
 3. A method of assembling a drawer pull including a bail and a support having a bearing slot to receive said bail, said bail having an axle designed to pivot relative to said support within said slot, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing said support with an ear at each end and said bail with a pair of cam cut-away portions on its rear surface said cut-away portions having two ends; b. bringing said support into contact with said bail by contacting said ears each with one end of said cut-away portions; c. pivoting said support about its contact with said bail in an upward direction causing said axle to cam into said slot; d. continuing said pivoting until said ears contact the other ends of said cut-away portions in which position said rear faces toward the rear of said bail and said axle is still positioned within said slot; and e. mounting said support on the drawer. 